A woman lies on a blue mat with her knees bent and both arms reaching straight up, caught at the top of a sit-up. A man crouches over her feet with both hands pinning them to the ground. Behind them a black wrought-iron railing runs the full width of the frame, and past the railing there's water and a blur of white boats. An ab workout on a terrace above the water, in … [Read more...] about Outdoor Ab Workout on a Harbour Viewpoint Terrace, Framed by Wrought Iron and Cast-Iron Benches
Peeling Painted Arcade Frames a McDonald’s at Its Far End
Three arches sit inside each other like nesting bowls, and the smallest one holds a half-round window with a bright street showing through it. Under the arches, grey columns with carved capitals run toward an open iron gate. Beyond the gate there's a McDonald's sign. The plaster overhead is cracked, and a bare tube light hangs on a cable in front of the glass. Looking … [Read more...] about Peeling Painted Arcade Frames a McDonald’s at Its Far End
Golden Hour, Blue Hour and the Case for Shooting Overcast
Photographers talk about light more than gear, and for good reason. The same scene shot at two different times can look like two different places. Golden hour is the stretch just after sunrise and just before sunset, when the sun sits low and the light is warm and soft. Shadows are long, skin looks kind, and everything glows a little. It's popular because it works. The hour … [Read more...] about Golden Hour, Blue Hour and the Case for Shooting Overcast
Stock Photography vs. Editorial Photography: Who Pays for What
They look similar. They're sold differently, and mixing them up can get you in real trouble. Stock photography is made to be used. A smiling team around a laptop, a bowl of fruit, a generic city skyline. Photographers get signed releases from people in the frame, and from property owners where needed, so a buyer can use the picture in ads, on packaging or on a … [Read more...] about Stock Photography vs. Editorial Photography: Who Pays for What
Public-Domain Image Archives Worth Bookmarking
Some of the best free images on the internet come from institutions that decided to open up their collections. You don't need a stock subscription for a lot of this. A Dutch Golden Age still life, a 19th-century map of Lisbon, a photograph of a nebula: it's all sitting there, high resolution, and much of it can go on a website, a book cover or a T-shirt without you paying a … [Read more...] about Public-Domain Image Archives Worth Bookmarking
Alt Text Is Editorial Work, Not a Compliance Chore
Alt text is the short description attached to an image so that someone using a screen reader can follow the page. It also shows up when an image fails to load. Most sites treat it as a box to tick. That's a waste. Writing good alt text means deciding what the image is doing on the page. That's an editorial call, the same as picking a headline. Describe the point Take a photo … [Read more...] about Alt Text Is Editorial Work, Not a Compliance Chore
What Creative Commons Licenses Actually Let You Do With an Image
You'll see the little CC badges on images all over the web. Most people click past them without reading what they mean. That's how mistakes happen. The basic one is CC BY. You can use the image, change it and share it, even commercially, as long as you credit the creator. Add SA, for share-alike, and anything you make from it has to carry the same license. Add NC, for … [Read more...] about What Creative Commons Licenses Actually Let You Do With an Image
Magnum Photos and the Case for Photographer-Owned Archives
In 1947, a group of photographers founded a cooperative in Paris. Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, David Seymour and George Rodger were among them. They called it Magnum Photos. The idea was simple and a bit radical for the time. The photographers would own their own work. They'd keep their negatives and their copyright, choose their own assignments, and decide how their … [Read more...] about Magnum Photos and the Case for Photographer-Owned Archives
From Newsreel to Newsfeed: A Short History of Moving Images as News
People were watching the news on a screen long before anyone owned a television. In the early 1900s, cinemas began showing short newsreels before the main feature. The French company Pathé started one of the first regular series in 1908. A newsreel ran a few minutes and covered a handful of stories: a royal visit, a flood, a boxing match, a war. There was no live coverage. Film … [Read more...] about From Newsreel to Newsfeed: A Short History of Moving Images as News
Why Photographers Still Add Film Grain to Digital Files
Digital sensors are clean. Modern cameras can shoot in near darkness and produce files with very little noise. So why do so many photographers pay for presets that add grain back in? Because clean can look cold. Real film grain comes from tiny silver crystals in the emulsion, and their random pattern gives an image texture you can almost feel. Digital noise is different. It … [Read more...] about Why Photographers Still Add Film Grain to Digital Files





